City of Florence to co-host medical town hall
A town hall meeting to talk about a national shortage of primary care physicians will be hosted by the City of Florence and PeaceHealth later this month.
Nationwide physician shortages are expected to balloon in the next five years. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by 202 there will be a 90-thousand physician deficit in the U.S. That situation will continue to put pressure on the ability of local health care managers to provide enough doctors to care for local residents.
Florence Mayor Joe Henry offered to co-host a town hall with PeaceHealth officials to let residents know what efforts have been put into finding more docs…
Nena Harvey, the director of operations for PeaceHealth Medical Group in Florence, says local leaders are “committed to finding providers”. They’ve never stopped recruiting doctors, but in recent months they’ve been focusing extra attention to find viable and promising candidates.
That Town Hall will be Thursday, August 18th from 12:30 to 1:30 pm at the Florence Events Center.
Commissioners refer marijuana tax to voters
Shall Lane County impose a tax of 3-percent on recreational marijuana products sold within the unincorporated area of Lane County?
That’s the question Lane County Commissioners are referring to voters on the November 8th ballot. If voters say yes, the tax would take effect following certification of the election… 20 days after the vote. It would not impact medical marijuana products… they would remain untaxed.
It would also not impact recreational sales that take place inside city limits in Lane County. However, all of the incorporated cities in Lane County are reportedly considering identical proposals.
The three percent would be in addition to the 17-percent imposed by the State of Oregon. County officials have not said how much revenue might be generated by the tax.
Coos County culinary students taste victory
A team of student-chefs from the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute at Southwestern Oregon Community College brought home a national championship last week. The team, including Reedsport resident Annie Sargent competed at the American Culinary Federation National Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. Working in an “arena kitchen” built specially for the competition, they produced a four-course meal of classics that outdid teams from four other regions of the country.
The OCCI team competed at the nationals by virtue of their gold medal finish at a regional competition held in Reno last winter.
American Pickers in Western Oregon
A documentary TV series that explores the world of antique “picking” will be making a return to Oregon this fall. Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz and the crew of the History Channel’s American Pickers will be cruising through Lane County next month on a mission to “recycle and rescue forgotten relics”.
Part of the appeal of their successful show comes from the variety of interesting people they meet along the way.
Producers of the show are hoping to hear from people who have sizeable collections… or accumulations… of antiques that Wolfe and Fritz can spend a day picking through.
They hope to film episodes of the show in the region in September. If you have… or know of someone who has something that might appeal… you can call 8-5-5-old-rust.